Flying-machine.



P. G. HOPKINS.

FLYING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION rum) APR. 28, 1906.

Patented Aug. 29, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

P. G. HOPKINS.

FLYING MACHINE.

APPLICATION rmzn APR. 28, 1906.

1,001,849, Patented Aug. 29, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

-P. O. HOPKLNS.

v FLYING MACHINE. APPLICATION nun APR. 2a, 1906.

1,001 ,849, Patented Aug. 29, 15 311.

IIYVENTOR B30206 0.170 2/ .dTTORNE y.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3. 9 Q 8 s UNITED STATES PATENT ornron.

Patron c. norms, ornnw roan, n. Y. ELYINLG-MAOHINE.

1,001,849. Specification of Letters Patent Patented Aug. 29, 1911.

, Application filed April 28, ,1906. Serial No. 314,119. 161121 whom itmay concern: tween the longitudinal bars 1, 2 and 3 B it k th t 1,.PRINCE C .H throughout the entire length of the frame, c1t1zen of. theUnited States, and a resident x ept a the extreme ends thereof, where ofNew York, in the county and Stat of the brace bar is omitted for thereasons 5 New York, have invented certain n w a d hereinafter described.The propeller blades useful Improvements in Flying-Machines, areextremely long and narrow in contradisof which the following is a full,clear, and inction to the ordinary length of blade, complete disclosure.I and revolve in great circles, thus agitating 4 y invention relates tomachines for navithe m ph Wi h n heir Cir l s at s 85 1o gating air, andparticularly t that class f frequent intervals, as will be hereinafterthe same in which their elevation and dim e fully ri e Th pr p llers arrect1on are controlled by propeller blades. C p d f h l s s me of whi hTh bj t f my i ti i t id are shown broken away and are indicated at sucha machine in which the same means of '-9'-.' T e e b d are ed to the 15propulsion maybe utilized both for as n hubs 8, from which extenddownwardly the sion and navigation, and by a peculiar arpropeller shafts7, each'journaled in its rerangemcnt of the propeller blades to obtain pti Sleeve 1 at h jH l f h a more eflicient means of propulsion nd framebars 3, 5 and 6. Across the frame cause the movements of the machine asa b rs 5 and 6 is the brace bar 11, having a 20 whole to be moresusceptible to c ntrol. sleeve 12 at its central portion, through Afurther object of my invention is to which passes the lower end of itsrespecprovlde a frame and a car so arranged that tive propeller shaft.To the lower extremthe frame may be moved relatively to the ity of e hpr p l r h f i fa t e a car to control the direction of the machine.bevel ge r 12', WhiOhme h With th bevel 25 Wrth these objects in view,my invention gear 13 onthe shaft 1414, which latter is consists of thedetails of construction and ourn ed at s extreme ends n the Sleevesmanner of operation set forth in the fol 15-15 in the brace bars 16,WhlCll are 10- lowing description and accompanying draw cated at theextremeends of the frame, just ings, in which like reference charactersindi above where the bars H are omitted, as 5 3o catecorresponding-parts. hereinbefore referred to. Each alternate In thedrawings, Figure 1 is a perspective b e ge r 13 engages thebpposite sideof iviewmf my i ve ti Parts f th frame 1ts meshlng gear 12, thus glvingto the shaft and propeller blades being broken away; connected to thelatter a reverse dlrectlon. Fig. 2 is a transversesection of the same,The b f these alternate h t are also 35 showing the car and frame arrangd i reversely inclined, so that the said reverse their normal relativeposition, and Fig. 3 is dlrection doesnot change the d1rect1on of 'a'transverse section taken in the'sa'me plane P p vThe elreles ldeserlbedy t a Fig, 2, but showing the frame v d to revolutlons of the severalshafts are side incline the axes of the propellers. Fig. 4 is byside-and do not. overlap and thus the agi- 40 an elevation of the frameand car showing tation of theair 1n anyone circle is less 11athesteering gear, but having parts th r of ble to affectthat m either of1ts ad acent broken away, and Fig. -5 lsacross section clrcles than ifthe said bladeswere artaken on line 5 5 of Fig.4. ranged to swlng 1noverlappmg circles, and

, Referring particularly'to th v f a t further, the reverse direct-iongiven to each 45" ture,iin which the propeller are otatobly alternatepropeller has a tendency to com-- journaled, 1 and 2 represent thelongitudinal pensate for any uniformly directed currents base bars of anelongated extended frame. Whl h nilgh Set up thr0l 1gh0ut the at- Thesaid base bars are parallel 'at,their midmospheric' medlum surroundingthe whole j "dle'portions and converge upwardly toward mac me by virtueof the rotation of a plu- 5 their end portions. The top longitudinalrallty" of propellers 1n the same direction. bar is indicated at 3 andis connected with The shaft 14 -14 may be d sconnected at its thebarsland 2 bythe braces 5 and 6, middle portion so that the motor Wlll re-.the-latter.- .=-three} braces -formin a triangle volve only apartthereof. The said mechasubstantially at ri ht angles with thelonnlsmfor. disconnecting the shaft 1s a longi- 5 gitudinal bars. T e sai dtriangular .brace tudinally movmgclutchoperated by thelebars i, 5 and 6er t, n e l b ever 20, fulcrumed onthe bar 21, attached clutch, as oneof jacent to said end is keyed the meshing with the gear 26, operate bythe rection, leaving the other section which project for some 55determined by the end of which is a cord 22, pass 23 and down into thecar a handle 24. By pulling lever 20 will throw the to the upper ingover a pulley 29, terminating in on the cord, the

5 clutch longitudinally of the shaft and disconnect the two sectionsthereof, so that the operation of one will not in any way aifect theoperation, of the other. illustrated in detail any particular form ofany suitable construction may be utilized;

' Referring to that section of the shaft indicated at 14', the sleeve 17of the brace bar 18, and adear 27,

heavy compared with the frame, and by" virtue of the principle of gravition assumes its lowermost position re ative to the frame. When it isdesired to swing the frame for the purpose of inclining the pro- 'pellerblades, a shaft 33, which is rigid with the lower part of the frame, ispulled rearwardly, forcing the frame along the runners 30 until itassumes its desired position, when the lever 33 is fastened to the--rack34 by 4 means of the locking device 35. '2 The rudder 36 is journaled torotate in the sleeve 37, the latter being secured to the car. The stem38 of the rudder is bent t9 any desired pos1t1on wlthin the carto ,form.a crank to enable the rotation'of the same.- The rudder may be locatedin any suitable position around the vertical axis *of the carandnormallylies in a vertical plane. f When turned "out of this plane, however, itcomes under the influenceof a downwardcurrent'of air, induced by therotation of the propellerlocated nearest the car, and thus turns thecar, together with itsattached ,fr'ame, aroundpn its vertical axis, in adirection direction of inclination of the blade 36 thereof. The rudder,thus arranged, acts as a; single blade propeller,

of which the car is thehub, and when'any air is forced downwardlyagainst'the same, it will cause thecar to revolve on its vertical to thedirection of-inclin'ation ofr aithe i lade. A" further means of steeringis dis losed in detail in Figisr. 4 and 5, inwhieh figures a portion of.the ivaxis accordin ing gear and motors have been remove'd, m

.pulleys 42-42 I have not the inner end is journaled m- .the upwardlyextending wire 44- on the order to more clearly bring out the? detailsof the steering mechanism. On the extreme ends of the frame arejournaled the blades 40-40, which are fastened to shafts 41-41 the innerends of which carry respectively. shafts are journaled toosclllate incross bars, one of which is indicated at 43 in Fig. 5, connectingthe.frame bars 5 and 6. J ournaled in bearings-attached to, the top ofthe frame are the pulleys respectively,

45-45 and 46-46, v and about the center of the frame is located The.said

a drum 50. When in operation, these blades 40-40 are oscillated toincline in opposite directions, and by virtue of each bemg located undera ropeller, it come under the influence of a downwardly directed cgrrentof air, and thus causes the frame to r volve on a vertical central axis.Around the pulleys 42-42, and over the pulleys 45-45, and '46-46, andaround the drum '50,'passes a cord or wire 444-45. To the lower end ofthe drum 50 is attacheda flexible shaft 47, which extends, down into thecar, and has a lever 48 at its lower extremity. By swinging the lever48, the drum 50 may be revolved through the medium of the flexible shaft47, so that the pulley cord 44 will-pass upwardly 42, over the pulley45, around the upper'part of the drum 50 and over the pulley 45', ass-'ing downwardly on the farther side o Elie under the same, and upwar ypulley 42', on the near side of the said pulley, over the pulley 46,around the lower part of the drum 50, overthepulley 46 and down on thenear side of the pulley 42, terminatingE in ar- 1 These propeller beused together the latter may be is obvious that the ther side of'thepulley 42. blades 40 and 40 'may with the rudder'36, or eliminatedentirely. It

said blades, when inclined in reverse directions r untifthey are turnedback into their normal vertical plane. The direction of the turn- -ingof'the' frame is determined by the direction of inclination of the s'aidblades.

As hereinbefore mentioned, the blades 9-9 and 9'-9 of the severalpropellers are much longer and narrower than the blades of ordinarypropellers, so that when revolved they enerategreat circles by virtue gby one blade has 12 0 of which the air agitated time to recoger from itsdisturbance before being ag by at the circumference of the circlewherethe blades are the widest. This feature enables me'to utilize amaximum resistance 0 air thus increasingthe eificiency of the;propulsion means. The several propeller are journaled at such a distanceapart from on the farther side of the pulleywill cause-the frame totwist around the next' blade, especially one another that the Qcirclegenerated by the blades of one is independent of and does not overlapthe circles 'generaTtedby the blades sary, however,

vided that the revolutions balance of the adjacent ones. As the machinealways travels in such a direction that these propellers will beabreast, or, in other words, the frame of the machine to the directionof propulsion, the atmospheric medium surrounding and agitated by anyone propeller is not in the path of nor- 1n any way extends into themedium agi-' tated by any of the other propellers. heretofore stated,the alternate propeller shafts are geared to rev'olve in a reversedirection and have their blades reversely inclined in order that theirdirection of propulsion willalways be upward, like that of the otherpropellers. Having the blades of the alternate propellers revolving inreverse directions from the other propellers has a tendency tocompensate for any general direction of the air surrounding the entiremachine, due to the revolution of all the ro pellers in one direction,and further, should the atmospheric medium within the circle of onepropeller, by virtue of the continuous rotation ofthe blades in onedirect-ion, cause the said medium to assume a moving action followin themedium of the adjacent propellers will have a tendency to retard themotions thus set up in the several atmospheric mediums within theseveral circles. It is not necesthat I should have the alternatepropellers revolving in opposite directions, for, if desired, all thoseon the one end may be revolved in one direction while those on the otherend may be revolved in the opposite direction, and further, in the caseof alarge propeller being used in the center and smaller propellers onthe end port-ions, the direction of revolution of the large one may beopposite to that of the smaller ones,

or -I may have the oppositely revolved propellers arranged in any othermanner, proeach other, and are not such as to result in any turningeffect upon the frame.

Having now described the construction of.

my device, I will eration thereof.

proceed to explain the op- Assuming that the car is resting on" theground and is supporting the framein its nor mal positiom. asindicatedin Figs. 1 and 2,1 turn the rudder blade 36 into a vertical plane, andstart all the propellers. The downward propulsion of the air will sooncause the machlne to rise vertically until an arbitrary elevation isreached, when, by means of the depending rod 33, I swing theframemearwardly on the runners 30 until the. axes of the severalpropellers are inclined, as shown in Fig. 3. The propellers, thus swungto revolve in an oblique plane, cause the machine to travel in ahorizontal direction, which direction is coincident with the resultantof the upward force of propulsion and the downward force of gravity,omitbeing transverse the blades, the reverse motion in ting, of course,the other various factors, such as currents of air, etc., which surrounda machine in the progress of its flight. When the angle of inclinationof the axes is finally determined, the lever 33 is locked to the rack34, attached to the car 29, by means of the" locking device 35.

As heretofore stated,'the rotation of the .machine in a horizontal planecan be effected by turning the rudder 36 out of its vertical plane,bringing the same under the influence of one of the propellers, and thusthe entire machine may be faced or directed toward any desired point.The raising and lowering of either end of the machine independently ofthe other may be effected by means of rotating the propellers on saidends either 5 alone or simultaneously in opposite directions. To causethe machine to soar, aeroplanes may be attached in any suitable manner.In the form of my machine described herein, I have illustrated twoaeroplanes 28-28, attached to the top bar 3, and to a pair of the bottomcross bars 44. These aeroplanes have no function whatever when themachine is ascending, but when the frame is inclined the aeroplanes arelikewise inclined, and present an oblique surface against the forwardmotion of the machine, thus tending to raise the same or prevent it fromdescending.

The frame itself is built in skeleton form, having its brace barscomposed of drawn steel tubing, or of aluminum, bamboo or other materialwhich will have the necessary strength and at the same time the requiredlightness. Any form of motor may be used, lriinimum weight and maximumpower being the desired elements; The car may beconstructed in anysuitable manner, and may be of basket form,,ca'ge-like or otherconfiguration common in this art. If desired, an annular air cushion 39may be fastened to the bottom of the car, for the purpose of avoidinganyshock which might result in the machines' landing too abruptly.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protectby Letters Patent of the United States is;

1. In a machine for navigating air, the combination with a normallyhorizontal propeller arranged above the frame of the machine, a rudderarranged in a normally vertical plane beneath said propeller and in thecurrent of air delivered from said propeller,a. car suspended beneathsaid frame, means to incline said rudder to turn said machine to theright or left under the action of said propeller, and means to inclinesaid propeller from its normally horizontal plane to propel said machinesubstantially horizontally, byv altering the angular relation betweensaid frameand said car.

2. A flying machine comprising an elontially horizontallyby altering theangular track:

relation between said frame and said can 3. In a machine for navigatingair, the combination with a rigid frame, of normally horizontalpropellers arranged upon opposite ends of said frame, normally verticalblades journaled insaid frame beneath said propellers, -means tooscillate said blades simultaneously in opposite directions to turn saidmachine, and meansfor inclining said propellers from their normallyhorizontal planes to propel said machine substantially in a horizontaldirectiondby altering the transverse angular elevation of said frame.

- i. A machine for navigating air, comprising a transverse frame,normally horizontal propellers journaled to rotate adjacent to the endsthereof, normally vertical blades journaledto oscillate in said frameunder the influence of said propellers, means whereby the bladesmay besimultaneously inclined in opposite directions and means to incline theaxes of said propellers from their normally vertical plane and in aplane transverse to the longitudinal axis of said frame to propel saidmachine substantially in the, direction in which the said axes of saidpropellers are inclined by altering the transverse angular elevation ofsaid frame.

5. A machine for navigating air, comprising a transverse frame,horizontal propellers journaled to rotate adjacent to the; ends thereof,normally vertical blades j ournaled to oscillate in said frame under theinfluence of said propellers, pulleys connected to said blades, adrumand connections be-v tween said drumand said pulleys whereby said bladesmay be simultaneously inclined in opposite directions by the rotation ofthe said drum. j

6. A machine for navigating air, comprising a frame, a horizontalpropeller carried by said frame, guides secured to said frame, a tracksupported: in said guides, a car secured'to said track and means formoving said framealong said track. I 7. A machine for navigating air,comprising a frame, a horizontal propeller carried by said frame, guidessecured to saidframe, a curved'track supported in said guides, a cansecured to said track and means for moving said frame along said 8. Amachine for .navigatmg air, comprising" a triangular frame, a horizontalpropeller supported at one edge of said frame,

1 respect to the said car.

guides secured to the two lower edges of said frame, a track supportedby said guides, a car secured to said track and means for moving'saidframe along said track.

9; A machine for navigating air, compris ing a frame, of triangularcross-section, an aeroplane and a propeller carriedby said frame, guidessecured to the two lower edges of said frame, a track supported by saidguides, a car s cured to said track and means for'moving said frame'along said track.

10. A machine for navigating. air, comprising a frame of triangularcross-section, a horizontal propeller and a vertical aeroplane supportedby said frame, guides carried b said frame from its two lower edges, atracl i supported by said guides, a car secured to said track and meansfor moving said frame along said track.

11. A machine for navigating air, comprising a frame triangular in crosssection and extending transversely of said machine,

a propeller mounted adjacent to the upper edge of said frame and carriedthereby, a,

car sup orted by said frame from the two lower, e ges thereof and meansfor adjusting the an larity of said frame with respect to sai car. 4

12; A machine for navigating air, comprising .a triangular frame, apropeller sup-- ported by. said frame adjacent to the upper edgethereof, guides secured to the two lower edges of said frame, a curvedtrack slidably supported in said guides, a car rigidly secured to saidtrack and means for .inovini said frame along said track.

13. 'machine for navigating; air, comprising a frame of. triangularcross section, a propeller supported by said frame ad-I jacent to theupper edge thereof, guides secured tothe two lower edges of said frame,a curved track slidably supported in said guides, a car rigidly securedto said track and means for mov-ing said frame along said track,said-means comprising a lever rigidly secured to said frame andextending into said car and means for locking the lever 1n varlousposltlons with'respect to said car.

14:. A machine for navlgating air, comprising' an oblong frametrlangular in cross section, a series of propellers with horizon tallyextending blades rotatably mounted uponsaid frame along the upper edgethere- 0 vertical shafts carrying said ropellers and extendingdownwardly insa d frame} bevel gears connected to the loWei'end of saidshaft, a shaft extending longitudinally of said frame, bevel-gearsmponsaid tudinal, shaft en aging with said gears of said vertical sha s,means for rotating said- -longitudinal shaft to drlve said propellers,.a car s'u ported by said frame from the two lower e ges thereof andmeans for adjusting the angularity of the said frame with long?simultaneously,

to the direction of the 15. A machine for navigating air, comprising anoblong frame extending transversely of said machine, horizontalpropellers carried upon each side of said frame, a shaft extendinglongitudinally of said frame for rotating all of said propellers meansfor disconnecting said shaft centrally so as to throw out of operationthe propellers upon one side of said machine, and means for adjustingthe angularity of said frame with respect to said machine.

16. A machine for navigating air, comprising an. extended rigid frame, aseries of propellers journaled longitudinally thereof, the axes of saidpropellers being at such a distance apart that the circles described bytheir blades will not overlap, means for r0- tating one group ofpropellers independently of anotheragroup, a car suspended from themiddle of sand frame, and "means for moving said frame to incline theaxes of the propellers in a vertical plane.

17. A machine for navigatlng air, comprising an extended rigid frame, aseries of propellers arranged longitudinally thereof, means for rotatmgsaid propellers, a car suspended from the middle of said frame, havingcurved runners ri 'd therewith, and means for moving said ametransversely to said car on said runners.

18. A machine for navigating air, comprising an extended rigid frame, aseries of propellers arranged longitudinally thereof, means for rotatingsaid propellers, a car suspended from the middle of said frame, meansfor moving the frame transversely to incline the axes of the propellersin a vertical plane, and normally vertical blades journaled to oscillateadjacent to the extremities of'said frame and under the influence of thepropellers.

19. In a flymg machine, the combination with an elongated rigid frame,the longitudinal axisof which extends transversely flight of saidmachme, a series of propellers extendin longitudinally of said frame andarrange normadly in a horizontal plane above said rame, rudders beneathsaidpropellers and above said frame .rection, and arranged normally in avertlcal plane arranged normally in a vertical plane, means forsimultaneously inclining said rudders in opposite directions, and meansto incline said propellers from their normally horizontal plane and insubstantially the direction of the flight of said machine by alteringthe transverse angular elevation of said frame.

20. In a machine for navigating air, the combination of a frame, aseries of propellers mounted in said frame andarranged in a normallyhorizontal plane, means carried by said frame for actuating saidpropellers, a car suspended from said frame, means to move said framewith respect to said car to incline said propellers with respect to saidcar to propel the said machine in agenerally horizontal diand a ruddercarried by said car beneath a propeller to change the direction of theflight of said machine.

21. In a machine for navigating air, the combination of a frame, aseries of propellers arranged longitudinally of said frame and normallyin a horizontal plane above said frame, said propellers being arrangedsymmetrically with respect to the central vertical axis of said frame,means to rotate each propeller in a direction opposite to the directionof its adjacent propeller, a car suspended from said frame, means temove said frame with respect to said car to incline said propellers fromtheir normally horizontal plane and in a direction of the fllght ofsaidmachine transversely to the horizontal axis of said frame, steeringblades located beneath said propellers and under the influence of theair delivered from said propellers and in a normally vertical plane, andmeans to. incline said steering blades from their normally verticalposition to turn said machine in its flight.

' In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day ofApril, A. D., 1906.

PRINCE o. HOPKINS.

Witnesses:

GEORGE F. NEWCOMB, ARTHUR S. JAMESON.

